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Those proceedings rolled today when the son of Clive Mensink - who is Mr Palmer's nephew - faced court to be questioned about there whereabouts of his elusive father.

Clive Mensink. ()

Clive Mensink was the sole registered director of Queensland Nickel when it collapsed, and is the subject of warrants aimed at forcing him to return from an open-ended overseas trip to answer questions in court.

Today, his son Ryan Mensink, who is also employed by Mr Palmer, said that was unlikely because his dad was "probably having too much fun" on his travels.

Mr Palmer, who has been ordered to search his records for documents that might reveal the location of his nephew, scheduled his Townsville press conference to coincide with the court hearing in Brisbane.

He called on the Queensland government to stop blocking access to Townsville Port "so we can create new jobs".

But the government said that was because Queensland Nickel owed the port money.

"He needs to pay his workers. He needs to pay his bills," a spokesman for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told AAP.

Mr Palmer said about 500 people had registered for jobs that would flow from the refinery's reopening.